The Sweetest Devotion
by brighterthansunshine28
Summary: Two words. Two words shouldn't be able to hold such meaning. Yet these two words hold all the meaning in the world. Huge, life-altering meaning.


"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant."

Two words. Two words shouldn't be able to hold such meaning. Yet these two words hold all the meaning in the world. Huge, life-altering meaning.

After she'd picked Lorelai off of the gazebo floor and convinced her the father wasn't her wookie one night stand or Peter (Paul, she had to keep reminding her mother), Rory had to break the new that the father was Logan.

"But I thought you'd stopped seeing him over the summer!" Lorelai exclaimed, moving on from the glass to drink the Champagne straight from the bottle.

"I did. Once Odette moved to London from Paris I said it had to be over. It didn't feel weird or dirty when she wasn't living there, but as soon as she was living there…" she shivered. "But he came to see me awhile ago. Brought Colin and Finn and Robert and they were such idiots and it was perfect and romantic and we slept together. And then we said goodbye, for good."

"And now you're pregnant."

"And now I'm pregnant."

They survey the town square, all decked out for the wedding, in heavy silence.

"I'm sorry I put a damper on your big day. The ceremony last night was perfect. But I figured you'd find it odd that I wasn't drinking."

Lorelai just nodded, bringing the bottle back up to her mouth for another swallow. "I have hair and makeup coming in an hour or so for us at the Inn. We should get going." She gets to her feet slowly, as if the weight of the world is suddenly there, pressing against her shoulders, light years away from the lightness of her carriage just a short while ago.

"Are you going to tell him, kid?"

"I think I should. Before…before he gets married. But after…after I decide what I'm doing. Only if - only if I'm keeping it," Rory replied, voice small, looking down at her hands.

"Oh, Rory," Lorelai breathed, pulling her up from her spot on the gazebo floor and into a hug, only to have Rory collapse into sobs at the contact.

"I talked to Dad yesterday," Rory managed to say through her sobs, "and he said he understands you raising me alone. I can't believe you did this at sixteen and alone. I don't want to do this at _my_ age and alone! And Logan, oh my God, what am I going to tell Logan?"

"Shhhh." Mother and daughter swayed slightly as Lorelai ran palms soothingly up and down Rory's back until she calmed down. "We'll figure it out. _You'll_ figure it out."

* * *

She sits in her mother's bathroom, huddled on the floor, ignoring the pregnancy test on the counter. "I know what it's going to say, Mom," she'd said earlier as a pharmacy in Woodbury (too much risk of being seen in Stars Hollow), "so this is pointless."

But Lorelai was not to be waylaid and so here they sat, one week after wedding, on the floor of the bathroom, studiously avoiding eye contact, both with each other and with the potential life-changer sitting innocently on the counter.

"It's been more than three minutes," Rory finally said quietly. "I guess I should put on my big girl pants and look?"

Instead of replying, Lorelai just took Rory's hand and pulled the test down from above their heads.

"Want me to look?"

Rory nodded, closing her eyes.

"Two pink lines, kid. You're definitely pregnant."

* * *

"Pros of telling Logan: he's the father and should know." Rory dictated to her mother at their favorite window table at Luke's the next morning. "Pro: he'd be kind of an adorable dad if he could focus."

"Con," interjected Lorelai, "currently engaged and con: living on another continent."

Rory dropped her head to the table, letting out a low moan. "I am the worst. This is the worst." How had she let her life get so out of control? What had seemed funny-haha a month ago: no steady job, no apartment, no underwear, a joke of a boyfriend now seemed funny-tragic.

"Pro," continued Lorelai, ignoring Rory's outburst, "he's financially stable. Con: you'll have to deal with the extended Huntzbergers for the rest of your natural life."

"That's it, we're keeping this quiet. Grandma doesn't live in Hartford anymore, I'll avoid any and all Yale events - "

"Forever?"

"Yes! Forever!"

"Oookay, that seems rational. Let's get you some coffee."

At that, Rory lifted her head off the table to stare at her mother with disbelief.

"Decaf, obviously."

She grimaced. "Luke's going to wonder why I'm drinking decaf. Add that to my con list: telling him will be humiliating."

Lorelai scrunched up her nose. "Telling Luke will be humiliating?"

"Yes, that's it," Rory retorted dryly. "No, telling Logan will be humiliating. And his family. And Grandma. Oh God, telling Grandma. This will kill her." She puts her head back down on the table and doesn't respond when Lorelai pokes her with a pen a few times. "It's almost a blessing Grandpa's not alive to see this."

"So…con: potential humiliation awaits?"

"Con! Definitely a con!" The reply is muffled; Rory doesn't bother to pick up her head from her arms. It's not until Luke comes by with their pancakes and coffee that she sits upright again. They tucked into their breakfast in uncharacteristic silence, both lost in their own thoughts, Rory's coffee growing cold in front of her.

"Where are we with pros and cons?" she finally ventured.

"Three pros, four cons."

Rory brightened at that. "Well, if the list says…" she trailed off, deciding that if "the list" was enough to get her to settle on Yale over Harvard, it would be enough for her in this situation as well.

"I think the list is missing one fairly large pro," Lorelai stated gently, "and that is that Logan is not your father - "

"Ew."

"- and that Christopher was not ready or willing to be a dad. Whereas I think Logan might be. You know him better than I do. Christopher was sixteen, immature, and not ready to settle down. Hell, he was thirty two and unable to be your dad in a way that you needed. And while the similarities between your dad and Logan are there, Logan is not Christopher, hon."

Rory mulled that over. "I need air." She stood to go.

"I also think Logan is still in love with you. And that you're in love with him. Regardless of whether or not either of you are willing to admit it."

Rory strode out of Luke's without a backward glance, spending most of the day lost in thought.

* * *

 _Three weeks later_

She paused outside his door, clutching her purse and overnight bag convulsively, as if they provided armor for the conversation she has been dreading for weeks. Pro and con lists drafted and redrafted, appointments made, canceled at the last minute, remade, and recanceled. The decision finally made.

Keeping.

She took a bracing breath and raised her hand to knock on his door, only to have it fly open before her knuckles could make contact.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you here, love," laughed Finn, as he swept her up in a fierce hug.

"The feeling is mutual," she replied, flummoxed at Finn's presence when she was finally, _finally_ , ready to tell Logan her news. Their news. "I thought you were off shooting a something with a someone this week."

"Well, darling, it's quite an interesting story, but one I'm not at liberty to share at this time, under the advisement of a shockingly overpriced attorney." Finn turned to let her into the apartment. Her eyes skittered around, noting that the apartment remained largely unchanged since her last visit, despite its new occupant. "Unfortunately, I'm the only one home right now. Although, perhaps that is fortunate? Why don't I take you to tea and you can explain yourself to Finn."

With widened eyes, Rory started to back out of the entryway, stammering excuses, entirely grateful for the reprieve, but Finn grabbed her hand and held her firmly. "No, no, gorgeous, you're here and you're going to entertain me. Then I'll arrange for a nice little tete-a-tete with Logan in an empty apartment, yes?"

Without being quite sure how she came to agree with him, Rory found herself nodding in agreement. A short car ride later she found herself sitting on a plush sofa at The Lanesborough, delighting in pastries while Finn busied himself with the Champagne.

"So, my dear, while seeing you is always delightful, perhaps now you can explain how you came to be on Logan's doorstep this afternoon." Finn turned his gaze to her and Rory realized with a sinking feeling that he was just drunk enough to be startlingly perceptive.

"Uh, well, I need to talk to him," she began.

"Yes, and phones are so much more inconvenient than international travel," he interrupted dryly.

"This isn't really a phone conversation. It's more of an in-person conversation," she said quietly, looking down at her plate of ridiculous pastry and mini sandwiches.

"Christ," is all he manages before draining the rest of his glass and pouring himself another from the bottle chilling next to the table. "Right, do you have a place to stay while you're here?"

"I honestly hadn't thought past _buy ticket - get on plane - get in cab_ ," Rory laughed ruefully, "but I'm sure I can find something. I'm very of the moment these days."

"Mmmm," he hummed noncommittally. "Will you excuse me for a moment? I must find the little boys' room." He stood, pressed a kissed to the back of her hand, and strode off, leaving Rory at the table, staring after him, mouth open at his sudden departure.

Rory glanced around the lavish room, trying to distract herself before her mind could wander to thoughts of the purpose for this trip to London, but the restaurant was practically empty and largely devoid of distraction once she admired the Christmas decorations. She took a sip of her tea, resigned to another seven months of tea and decaf coffee, but still not fully adjusted to her largely coffeeless life.

She picked at the assorted fruits on the plate, popping a grape in her mouth. As she chewed, she remembered the email she got this morning, and swallowed thickly.

 _Right now you're 10 weeks pregnant. Your baby is about the size of a grape._

Rory is not entirely certain how they calculate these ridiculous things; last week the email had compared her baby to a kumquat. Deciding that allowing herself to continue that train of thought was a recipe for disaster, she pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled around, checking messages and Instagram and finally settling on the soothing rhythm of Two Dots until Finn's return.

"Alright, my dove, I have settled everything," Finn announced, throwing himself into his chair in a charmingly rakish way. "You have a room upstairs for two nights." He poured himself a refill on his Champagne, emptying the bottle. "No arguments," he said sternly, seeing Rory was about to protest. "Now, eat up, eat up, because I have managed to convince Logan to meet me here in two hours, and you need to freshen up before he arrives."

Rory opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, trying to work out what to say to this flurry of action. "Why are you doing this?"

Finn surveys her over the rim of his glass, all trace of the louche playboy gone. "Because my best friend is about to make a huge mistake in the name of dynastic duty. And because you, Rory Gilmore, are the love of his life."

She feels the burn of tears pricking the back of her eyes. "Thank you."

* * *

It's not until Rory followed the bellman to her hotel room that she realized Finn had not booked her a hotel room; he's booked her into a four bedroom suite that must cost more per night than most people's cars. He'd disappeared with a kiss on her cheek and a "go get him" when they'd parted ways in the hotel's entry, so there was nothing she could do but text him an angry face and a side-eye emoji, because the bellman and the confused butler insisted the room had already been paid for and that she couldn't possibly _downgrade_ and would she like a bath drawn for her?

The butler drew her a bath, offered to press a change of clothes for her, and recommended that she use the blue bedroom as it had the best view of Buckingham Palace Gardens.

After her bath, she redressed, fluffed her hair, and retouched her makeup, and then wandered aimlessly around the suite, deciding that she'd bathe or shower in each of the bathrooms just to make use of them before she went back to Connecticut.

Her phone chirped and vibrated in her hand. _He's almost there._

"Oh God," she moaned, and flopped back onto the green sofa, trying to calm her breathing.

She laid there, taking measured breaths and attempting to quell her rising panic. Suddenly, telling Logan seemed like a cosmic joke. He was getting _married_ , for crying out loud. They had said a pretty final good-bye just two months ago. _What was she thinking, telling him?_

But then there was no time to panic further because, from several rooms away, she could hear the snick of a door opening. "Finn?" came Logan's muffled voice. "Finn! Where are you?"

Rory remained on the sofa, frozen in place, listening to him walk her way.

"Finn, if you're handcuffed naked to a bed again, this time I _will_ take photographic evidence, because, honestly, twice should have been enough to teach you a lesson."

"Once would have been enough for most people," she quipped, popping up from her prone position, "but not Finn, huh?"

Logan stopped short, like a deer caught in headlights. "Finn never learns his lessons, you know that," he replied, his easy tone working to cover his stiff posture. "Of all the gin joints, eh, Ace?"

"Something like that." She shifted uncomfortably back and forth from one leg to the other. "I, uh… I needed to talk to you. Finn came along for the ride and then started piloting the mission himself, which is why we are sitting in this ridiculous hotel suite."

Logan didn't say anything, but sat down on the sofa and pulled her down next to him.

"Mom and Luke got married last month. So that's exciting. And I've been working on the book. I…I have a pretty good idea of where it's heading now, actually."

He continued to gaze at her impassively, waiting for her to get to the point.

"I'm hitting on a lot of parallels between Grandma, Mom, and me, and our lives. And I have an agent and he thinks we'll be able to sell it to one of the major publishers." Rory knew she was rambling, angling towards the point without actually arriving at it, but there was something so final about saying it out loud that she continued to babble.

"So you came all this way to tell me you're working on the book?" he said doubtfully.

"No. I, uh, I." She took a deep breath. "I'm babbling."

He stood and started poking around the sitting room. "Is there a minibar in here? A drink might get you to calm down."

"I have no idea because I can't drink right now," she replied absently, focusing on what she wanted to say next.

Behind her, Logan stiffened, a look of dawning realization on his face. The sudden trip to London after a very final good-bye. The babbling. Not drinking. Any of these independently didn't mean anything, but all of them, together? He quickly circled back around to where she was sitting and took her hands in his own. "Rory, are you here for the reason I think you are?"

Rory stared blankly at their joined hands until he prompted her, gently. "Rory?"

"New Hampshire," she said simply, raising her eyes to meet his. His hands tightened convulsively around hers.

"Christ," he breathed out.

She let out a small laugh. "That's exactly what Finn said when he put two and two together."

"And you're sure?" he said seriously, eyes searching hers.

"Yes. I saw a doctor a few weeks ago to confirm."

"And you want to keep it?"

"I went back on forth on that multiple times. There were multiple lists. But yes." She took a deep breath and plowed on, "And I want you to know, you do _not_ have to make this choice with me. Dad's busy setting up trust funds and college funds and god knows what else for the baby as we speak. I'll be fine. _We'll_ be fine."

He released her hands. "Right."

"Your days of rescuing me are over. I just…I just needed you to know. I needed you to have the same choice I have."

He stood abruptly and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "I have dinner plans."

"Oh. Okay," she said in a quiet voice.

"When do you fly back?"

"Two days."

"Lunch tomorrow, yeah?"

"Sure," she replied, pasting a bright smile onto her face.

He leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek, then strode from the room briskly. She sat there, immobile, until the last remnants of light faded from the sky outside, leaving her shrouded in darkness.

* * *

Logan slipped into the suite several hours later. "Rory?" he called softly. When he received no reply, he started poking his head into the various bedrooms, but all were empty until he came to the last one. She was asleep, dwarfed by the large bed and the canopy above. Her face was illuminated by the glow of BBC News at Ten on the television.

He sat next to her on the bed, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. "Whozzair?" she murmured sleepily, somewhere between sleep and waking.

"It's me," he replied, kicking off his shoes and reclining next to her on the bed.

"You came back," she whispered as she moved to cuddle against him. Within moments, her breathing had evened out and she was clearly asleep.

He pressed a kiss to her temple, turned off the television, and settled in for the night. "I'm back."

* * *

Rory woke to late morning light streaming in through the draperies and Logan's warm body next to her in the bed. After he had left last night, she had allowed herself time to sit in a stupor, tears streaking down her cheeks. But, after she realized she was sitting in completely darkness, she forced herself to get up, turn on some lights, and order room service.

But now he was next to her in bed and she knew she had fallen asleep alone.

She sat up slowly and pushed back on the pillows until she was leaning against the headboard. She looked down at Logan and smiled to herself. In sleep, he looked so young and boyish. So carefree. She didn't know what brought him back to her last night, but she wasn't about to complain.

Reaching over to the bedside table, she picked up her phone and texted Finn. _Thank you_.

His response was quick, given the fact that it was still before noon. _Everything settled, then?_

 _Nothing is settled. But he knows, and that's enough. For now, anyway._ She followed it up with a quick jab. _You didn't tell me you booked me into a suite that could sleep the population of Stars Hollow._

 _Ah, well, only the best for my favourite girl. Plus, I knew you'd say no. Better to just spring it on you._

She smothered a laugh at the kissy face he sent at the end of his message and exited her messaging app in favor of checking her emails and Twitter.

She was turning off her phone when Logan started stirring beside her.

"Morning, Ace," he said sleepily.

"Hey, yourself," she replied, and shifted so that she was on her side facing him.

"So."

"So."

"Are we sticking with Ace, or should I be calling you baby mama now?" he said in an attempt to keep the mood light.

"Good God, no," she laughed in horror. "Unless you want to be called baby daddy."

"Yeah, that's not really us, is it?" he said with a grin.

"No. No, it's not. Finn has claimed 'Fun Uncle Finn,' however. I'm afraid I was unable to talk him out of it yesterday, so that ball will be in your court moving forward."

Logan rolled his eyes. "I will find him a lady to fixate on instead. I will not have him buying us thousands of dollars of weird stuff or misplacing our baby."

They both flinch a bit at that - _our baby_ \- and lie in thickening silence.

It's not until Rory's stomach growls impatiently that Logan rolled over to look at his phone. "I think that's my cue to take you out for lunch."

* * *

"Logan, this place is magical!" Rory exclaimed some time later as they were escorted to their table. "It feels like I've stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia."

"I thought you would like it," he replied with a wide smile as he helped her into her fur-covered chair.

After the waiter had taken their orders, the mood shifted from the deliberately light tone they had set since waking. Rory fiddled with the napkin in her lap before deciding to dive on in.

"So, are we going to talk about the elephant in the room before I _become_ the elephant in the room?"

He snorted a laugh. "I'm sure you won't become an elephant, Rory. If your metabolism has served you well this far in life, I doubt it's about to fail you now. Plus, you just ordered brunch with three sides, two of which were potatoes, so it doesn't seem to be a true concern."

She eyed him indignantly. "I didn't eat much dinner last night!" she protested.

"Oh, please. You ate for two before you were actually eating for two. You'll eat me out of house and home now."

"I hope it gets the Gilmore metabolism," Rory retorted primly.

"That makes two of us."

They fell into an easy silence after that. Rory eyes wandered around the snow-covered branches and back to Logan, who was staring blankly at his drink.

"I kind of threw a wrench in the dynastic plan, huh?" she asked softly as she played with her silverware.

"Ace, you _always_ threw a wrench in the dynastic plan," he replied earnestly, "in the best of ways."

She smiled faintly. "Well, you have time to decide. What you want to do. I meant what I said yesterday, about it being a choice. I've made mine, but you can still make yours."

"If you think you're getting rid of me now, Rory Gilmore, then you don't really know me at all," he said with finality. "I'm not about to abandon you with a baby - _our baby_ \- on the way. That's not who I am." He sat back in his chair and watched as she blinked backed the tears that had sprung to her eyes.

"Stupid hormones," she muttered, brushing them away. She chewed her lip and met his gaze. "What about Odette? And your parents?"

His wince was visible, but she pretended not to have seen it. "Let me deal with…all of that. You worry about taking care of yourself right now," he said firmly.

"But - "

"No. No buts. I'll handle that end of things."

"Okay," she said as the waiter came with their food.

"What do you want to do today? Want to do some damage in Knightsbridge or Mayfair? Or there's an cool exhibit at the Tate Modern I haven't seen yet that I think you'd like."

"That would be nice," she said absently as she tucked into her brunch. What did _"I'll handle that end of things"_ even mean? Would he be telling his parents? Telling Odette? He obviously wanted some sort of involvement, but what kind? She turned his words over and over in her head until she realized she'd practically ignored him throughout most of the meal and that he was speaking to her.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

She gave him a brief smile. "Nothing. So, the Tate?"

* * *

She deplaned in New York City a day later with no clearer picture of what was coming next. Logan had squired her around town, taken her out to dinner, dropped her off at her hotel, and been back in the morning to see her before she left. But any further conversation about the future, about his involvement with the baby, had gone nowhere.

She had spent a sleepless night, her brain unable to turn off images of him returning home to Odette, pretending nothing had happened. Or, returning home to Odette, telling her about the baby, and Odette being understanding. Of the wedding still being on.

Not knowing what was happening was driving her insane.

She sank onto the guest bed at Paris's townhouse and buried her face in her hands. Hiding out here, rather than returning to Stars Hollow and facing her mother, was cowardly. But a few days of peace was worth it, because Lorelai would want answers. Answers she didn't have.

Rory took a deep breath and attempted to find some zen. What would be, would be, and stressing wasn't going to fix anything.

* * *

A week later, Rory descended three flights of stairs to answer the door so Paris's beleaguered nanny didn't have to. "It's really okay - I can get it!" she called back up the stairs. "Tell the kids I'll help them with their menorah drawings as soon as I see who this is!"

She swung the door open to reveal Logan.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Ace," he said with a wide smile.

"How on earth did you find me here, Logan?"

"I had an awkward conversation with Luke and an extremely uncomfortable conversation with your mother," he replied cheerfully.

"You called her?"

"I was in Stars Hollow, looking for you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, apparently you've been keeping your mother in the dark on your whereabouts. So I went to Lane's, then to Hartford to your grandmother's, and now I'm here."

"You've had quite the day, then," she said faintly.

"Your grandma seemed overjoyed to see me, so I'm assuming she's in the dark on certain parts of your life right now or I'd be persona non grata at the Gilmore house," he replied pointedly. "Now, can I come in or are we going to do this on the stoop in the cold?"

She stood back from the door, allowing him into Paris's sitting room. She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater. "You could have just texted me. I would have told you where I was. How on earth did you get this address? Paris guards it with her life."

"Pulled some strings with the Yale alumni office," he admitted. "Colin knew someone who knew someone. Or slept with someone who knew someone. I'm not entirely sure. Plus, it's not a surprise visit if you know I'm coming."

They sat and appraised each other across the coffee table.

"So why are you hiding from Lorelai?"

"I'm not hiding!" At Logan's doubtful look, she continued, "I'm writing, I'm meeting with my agent, I'm helping Paris out with the kids since Doyle has gone completely AWOL out in LA. I'm Christmas shopping and planning my trip up to Nantucket next week for Christmas with Grandma." Rory paused to take a breath. "Would you like something to drink?"

He blinked back at her as he tried to follow the rapid change in conversation. "No, I'm fine. So you're not hiding. Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"Yes. No. I really don't know," she confessed with a small laugh. "I'm always glad to see you, you know that. But this whole situation terrifies me, to be honest."

"Terrifying seems an appropriate term." They shared a smile over their mutual terror.

"I'm ready to hear why you're here now."

"I ended things with Odette." Rory gasped at this news, but Logan was not done. "I'm also transferring to New York, effectively immediately. It's not Stars Hollow, but I'd be close." Rory continued to gape at him, apparently at a loss for words. "I said I wasn't about to abandon you, or our kid, and I meant it."

Her eyes welled up and she sniffed. "Goddamn these hormones. I swear, I'm a disaster, crying all the time. You didn't need to completely uproot your life for this if you don't want to, Logan. I can do it on my own, like Mom did."

He stood and crossed over to where she sat on the sofa. "You seem to be under the impression that I and like your father. That I don't want this. That I don't want _you_. When that is all I've _ever_ wanted."

She is so startled by this revelation that she just blankly stared at him, waiting for comprehension to dawn. He could see the moment it did, just before she surged forward to kiss him.

His mouth was hot and soft and insistent against hers and she sighed into it, tilting her head up and busying her hands in his jacket, pulling him against her. He eventually pulled back, peppering kisses along her jawline before dropping a final one on the tip of her nose.

"I want you, too," she whispered. "I wanted to tell you to stop the wedding, but I couldn't. I didn't feel like I had any right."

"We can figure it all out. Together."

* * *

 _Two months later…_

The lights in the office were dim as they stared at the blobs moving around on the screen in front of them. Rory glanced over at Logan and let out a laugh when she saw how confused he looked by the images on the screen.

"I don't think we're supposed to really know what we're looking at," she whispered conspiratorially. "Are we?" she asked the technician.

"Most people have a hard time, especially if it's their first," the tech responded with a smile. "It's perfectly normal to not know what you're looking at. Let me take some measurements, and then I can point out head and hands and feet, and you can decide if you want to know the baby's sex."

Rory inhaled sharply and looked up at Logan expectantly. "Well?"

"Let's find out if we're having another Gilmore girl, yeah?"

"Okay, let's find out."

* * *

He took her out to dinner afterwards, and if they spent an inordinate amount of time staring at the sonogram printouts in awe, the waiters were far too discreet to say anything.

"We're really having a baby."

"Um, yes," she laughed, "I'm pretty sure that's what all the fuss has been about."

"Yeah, but you are the one who is feeling all the changes…you've felt the baby kick but I haven't been able to yet. Seeing it, _her_ , in black and white…" he trailed off, staring at the sonogram in wonder.

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"It's real, suddenly. Not just this theoretical baby that we're having in June." His gaze fixed on her and if she found herself melting a bit, well, who would blame her? "What would you say to spending more time in New York?"

Rory sucked in a breath and chewed on her bottom lip. She had largely been splitting her time between Stars Hollow and Hartford, with trips to New York becoming increasingly more frequent.

"You can't live with your mom and Luke when the baby comes, and I don't want you alone in Hartford. You've been spending half your time with me anyway, Ace, and it's not like I don't have the room."

She thought longingly of the apartment where she was, indeed, spending a larger and larger portion of her time, of the nursery they were planning in one of the spare bedrooms, and of the office that was nominally his but was hers in practice, with its bright light, view of the East River, and terrace access. "So you want me to move in with you?"

"Yes."

"Isn't this all…I don't know…moving really fast? You were engaged two months ago."

"I fail to see how moving in with someone I've already lived with, am having a baby with, and have dated for five of the last ten years is moving quickly," he replied dryly.

She flushed. "Well when you put it that way," she muttered. She looked up with a smile. "How could I possibly say no?"

"You're sure?" Logan pressed earnestly.

Rory nodded. "If I thought this was just about the baby, I wouldn't. But we don't seem to be able to quit each other, do we?"

He leaned over and cupped her face with his hands. "It's not just about the baby." He gently caressed her cheek with his thumb and nudged her chin up to capture her lips with his own. The kiss was lazy and languid, the type of kiss that let her know he wanted to taste every inch of her, slowly driving her mad with want.

Logan only broke the kiss when the waiter tried to subtly alert them to his presence by clearing his throat. "Anything else I can get you?"

"Just the check," he replied, not taking his eyes off of Rory.

"What if I wanted dessert?" she exclaimed.

"We can have dessert," he said, pressing kissing behind her ear and along her jawline after each word, "back at the apartment."

* * *

She was editing her manuscript several months later when a knock at the door startled her out of her deep concentration. She padded through the apartment and opened the door, and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

"Darling! You're looking positively radiant," Finn crowed once he had put her down and had taken a proper look at her.

"I'm looking large," she replied ruefully, rubbing her growing stomach affectionately.

"No, no, no. You have that gorgeous 'mother-to-be glow' about you that makes other women positively envious."

"If you insist," she conceded, and led him to the sitting room. "Can I get you a drink?"

"You do know the way to my heart, love. Any chance you'll be leaving Logan anytime soon?"

"Hmmm…" she hummed, pretending to mull it over. "Probably not."

"He always had all the luck."

She eyed him affectionately. "So, Uncle Finn, what brings you to my neck of the woods today?"

"I was angling for a promotion to godfather. Will I be so denied?" He affected a pout.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and got up from the sofa. "I'm going to get changed and you can take me to lunch. We can talk about it then."

* * *

"Lorelai the fourth. Just think about it!" her mother insisted over dinner. "There are loads of other nicknames we can come up with for her. Lila. Lily. Lori. Lora. Lola. The possibilities are endless, and you two need to think about them seriously!"

Rory and Logan exchanged amused looks over the table. Rory was just a few weeks from her due date and had decided to keep the name to themselves until after the birth.

"We've been over this, Mom. You'll get the name when everyone else does, and not before. That's just for us for now," Rory said serenely.

"Well, it seems like you have Lorelai handled, so I'm going to go take a call in the office. Shouldn't be too late." Logan excused himself with a kiss to the crown of Rory's head.

"So," Lorelai leaned forward conspiratorially, "how's it going with blondie?"

"It's…it's been so perfect it's almost scary. I mean, telling Grandma and his family was rough, but it's been easy because he's with me, you know?" Rory smiled to herself and then grins widely up at her mother. "I was so afraid to tell him to not marry Odette, that I still wanted him, that I almost lost the one man who is completely right for me."

Lorelai looked over at her daughter, so clearly full of love for this man and her unborn child, that her heart melts. "So even though the pro-con list said don't tell him…" she let the question linger, unspoken.

"The pro-con list was wrong," Rory declared definitively. "There's a first time for everything, I suppose. And you were right. Logan is not Dad - "

"Ew."

"- and we were both dancing around each other, afraid. But we both very much loved - _love_ \- each other."

Lorelai sipped her wine thoughtfully. "I'm glad you figured all this out so young, kid. Now, if you could just tell me the name…"

"No! Not until she's born!"

"We're not Jewish, there's no reason to keep it from Mommy."

"Forget it," she stood to take the dishes back to the kitchen. "Now help me with these and you'll have houseroom tonight. Otherwise, you're out on the mean streets."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

* * *

He practically came running down the hallway, Oxford shirt untucked, looking generally disheveled and not at all his usual suave Brooks Brothers self. He skidded to a stop in front of the assembled group, beaming with joy.

"Lorelai Emily Huntzberger has entered the world, and seems willing and able to live up to her namesakes, if her cries are any indication," he announced. "Eight pounds six ounces, twenty inches, and mom and baby are absolute perfection."

He is immediately surrounded by hugs and congratulations from those present, receiving handshakes and hugs and kisses from everyone more than once. "Why don't we start with Lorelai and Emily for visitors, and then rotate from there?"

He led them back to Rory's room, and they find her looking exhausted but blissful, a tiny bundle in her arms. Over the course of the next hour, everyone gets a chance to coo over the newest arrival before the nurse firmly evicted everyone but Logan from the room.

He sat next to her on the bed with an arm around her shoulders as they both stared at the baby in wonder. "She's so beautiful," Rory whispered, running a finger up and down her cheek.

"She looks like her mother," he replied, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"She has blonde hair, Logan, which she clearly gets from you. We'll have to wait and see if the eyes turn." She beamed down at the baby and then up at him. "What did your dad want in the hallway? I hope it's not work-related, he promised six weeks of paternity leave."

"Uh, no," he fidgeted. "He brought me something from Hartford. Something I held on to for no rational reason for kind of a long time.

"I always seem to do this at huge life moments, and I promise this time, if you need to think about it because you're hopped up on an epidural and oxytocin and the baby, and we've already had enough change for one day, that's okay. I'm not going anywhere." He shifted on the bed and pulled out a small velvet box, flipping it open to reveal a diamond ring.

"But I want us to be a family. A real, honest to goodness, American cliche of a family with a mom and dad and 2.5 kids and a dog. The kind of family neither of us had growing up."

He looked down to see her eyes welling up and he moved to kneel at the bedside. "Rory Gilmore, will you marry me?"

She leaned as far forward as she could with the baby in her arms. "Yes! Oh my God, yes, yes yes." They stared at each other, smiling goofily. "Now kiss me, you idiot," she ordered.

He slid the ring on her finger and complied, pressing her back into the pillows until the baby let out a wail. He gave the baby some side-eye. "She's going to completely spoil my best moves, isn't she?" he complained good-naturedly, as Rory worked to soothe her.

"Probably," Rory replied wryly. "But that's okay. She's the reason we're together at all."

* * *

 **I LOVED the revival (which I think puts me in the minority), but WOW I hated how it was left so open-ended. This was my attempt to fill in the future for our beloved Rory and Logan. Please let me know what you think in the comments, or come find me on tumblr, .com.**


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